After seven straight wins, 11 in 12, 15 in 19, and 37 in 61, the Caps will get to play more than 82 games that count this season. The team has the day off but will return to K-Plex tomorrow for practice at 11 a.m. (though it may be optional). I feel like last night was the first full night's sleep I've had in a month, so I certainly took advantage of the off day.

No updates on the injured guys today. I expect David Steckel to be ready for Wednesday or Thursday (he might have been able to play last night), and I wouldn't be surprised to see Chris Clark out on the ice with the team tomorrow morning trying to make one last go of it. The question is, who from the forward group sits? I'd guess Eric Fehr for Steckel, but I don't know who would take a seat if Clark can somehow play. Also, if the season stretches into May, be prepared for Michael Nylander sightings, although GM George McPhee has already told us they won't consider playing him. We'll see.

If Jeff Schultz did not wake up today and whatever was bothering him last night has healed, I'd expect to see Sami Lepisto or Josef Boumedienne (or both for that matter) at practice tomorrow. Hershey is in a fight for its playoff exsistence, but that doesn't matter at this stage. Obviously it would be a huge help to the Caps to have both Schultz and Shaone Morrisonn available, but the Caps might be happy with one of them at this point. Any more injuries on the blue line, and Bruce Boudreau might have to at least entertain the idea of putting Sergei Fedorov, who has some experience playing on defense, back there, especially if Steckel is healthy and the Caps have four other centers to work with.

All right, less than an hour until the Philly-Pittsburgh game. It seemed like the consenus in the media room last night was Ottawa would be a better matchup, and without Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher I cannot disagree. People will point to the season sweep by the Caps, but these two teams haven't played since January and the circumstances were pretty different then.

As for which of the two potential cities would be better to spend a few days in, well, it is not really close. That might have also played into everyone's decision last night to hope for a Penguins win today as well.